India heads Warc Asia Prize shortlist

SINGAPORE: Entries from India account for almost half the 38 case studies shortlisted for the 2013 Warc Prize for Asian Strategy, which has been announced today.

The full shortlist of entries can be viewed on the Warc Asia Prize website, where Warc subscribers can read the complete case studies.

The prize for the most insightful marketing strategy in the region - to be announced at an event in Singapore on 26 September - carries a $10,000 prize fund to be distributed between an overall winner and five special awards.

The winners will be decided by a judging panel of senior client-side marketers and agency-side strategy experts, chaired by Leanne Cutts, President & Managing Director Japan at Mondelez International.

Shortlisted entries came from ten different markets around Asia, and from a mix of major networks and local independents. And for the third year running, India supplied the largest number of shortlisted entries (17), well ahead of China (5) and Malaysia (4).

"We were particularly impressed with the number of entries that challenged category norms and behaviour, and found creative solutions that were breathtakingly simple yet amazingly effective," said Cutts.

"We were reminded once again that budget is no prediction of the quality of strategy thinking, creative idea or effectiveness in the real world," she added.

Entrants were asked to specify the media channels used in their cases. On average, the shortlisted campaigns used 8.4 channels each, higher than the average of 7.4 used across all entries.

And for the first time in the competition, social media was the most-used media channel, ahead of television. Across the shortlist, 74% of campaigns used social media, while 61% used television. Across all entries the figures were 57% for social media and 53% for television.

Separately, NMRA Insurance's 'Car Creation' campaign has won the Grand Effie at the Australian Effie Awards, for delivering an ROI of 129% while dropping cost per call by 255%.